1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to conventional foods, beverages, and nutritional supplements.
2. Background Information
Recent research indicates that polyphenols in fruits, vegetables, common beverages and plants possess the capacity for diversified, beneficial pharmacological activities. It is widely accepted that these compounds, recently dubbed “vitamin P”, possess a wide range of beneficial pharmacological activities which include stabilizing capillary wall tissues, quenching free radicals, maintaining proper permeability and flexibility of capillaries, and preventing cardiovascular diseases. (C. Castelluccio, et. al. FEBS Letters 368 (1995) 188-192). Numerous studies have also shown that most plant polyphenols possess cancer preventive capacity because of their profound antioxidant activity.
It is, of course, well-known that coffee contains caffeine. However, a lesser-known fact is that coffee contains potentially highly beneficial condensed tannin and polyphenolic acids.
Phenolic acids in coffee are mainly esters of quinic acid with different amount of caffeyl groups attached to its different positions. The phenolic acids present in coffee such as chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, and para-coumaric acid have been shown to exert cancer preventive activities in animal models. Chlorogenic acid has also been found to inhibit methylazoxymethanol-induced large intestinal tumors in hamster.
Chlorogenic acid, which is the main phenolic acid in coffee, is able to protect the gastric mucosa against irritations, and, therefore, improves the digestibility of foods, beverages and medicaments. The improved digestibility is expressed through a much-reduced systemic acid secretion (such as causes heartburn, etc.), which has been found to be directly dependent on an increased level of chlorogenic acid content in raw green coffee beans.
Normally the natural chlorogenic acid content of green coffee is reduced by approximately 40 to 80% during conventional roasting process. Analysis by the present inventor indicates that green coffee beans which initially contain 8% phenolic acids contain, respectively, 2% phenolic acids when light roasted, 1% when medium roasted, and less than 0.5% when dark roasted. This clearly represents a significant loss of beneficial compounds. Thus, the use of a roasting process which is designed to preserve the polyphenols normally lost through the roasting process will result in a product which has concentrations of phenolic compounds in greater quantities than currently marketed coffee beverages.
The resulting beverage will also be a source of diterpenes which have detoxification properties in humans, as well as other beneficial compounds such as triterpenes.
Furthermore, along with the potential health benefits achieved in the beverage substrate with the said process, antioxidants also have the ability to increase the duration and freshness of conventional foods and beverages. This fact has been known and practiced for many decades in the food industry. Antioxidants reduce the oxidation potential of the constituents found in plant derived foods and beverages which can provide an extended shelf life and stability of the final product.